Telecommunications giant FLOW yesterday reaffirmed its commitment to its annual ‘Skool Aid’ project which has assisted more than 300,000 parents and children with back-to-school supplies and medical services over the past six years at a cost of well above $400 million.

This year, FLOW is investing $80 million to execute the range of activities and services that should give parents a financial ease going into the new school year which begins in just under two weeks.

“The economy hasn’t got any better, but we continue to put it down as almost the first item when we look at any budget because of how important it is to give back to Jamaica,” Carlo Redwood, FLOW’s vice-president of marketing and TV, said at yesterday’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange.

“Of all the events that we have on our marketing calendar, Skool Aid, we see, as being number one, so we are not looking to step away from it. We are going to continue to do it,” Redwood added.

The highly anticipated Skool Aid, which will be staged at Jamworld entertainment centre in Portmore, St Catherine, on August 28 starting at 10:00 am, will offer medical and optical checks, immunisations, dental checks and cleanings, barbering and hair consultancy, free school bags, discounts on school supplies, scholarships, as well as tablets and laptops to lucky students.

Additionally, scholarship grants of $20,000 have been offered to students from three primary and secondary schools.

Skool Aid was conceptualised in 2010 as part of the company’s efforts to build a strong relationship with the Portmore community while at the same time easing parents’ back-to-school financial burden.

The response has seen FLOW extending the project to other areas across the island, including Flanker in St James, Rocky Point in Clarendon, Greenwich Town in Kingston, and Dempshire in Spanish Town.

“Our focus has always been how do we improve the operation of the clinic (to) ensure that we see more kids,” Redwood explained. “The most critical execution at the event is the medical centre, and that’s why we spend a lot of time, a lot of energy, ensuring that we can make it as big as we can… so although it’s one day, we compensate with the amount of people that we can see. All the service areas are bigger than they used to be. What is important is not just having a lot of people there, but being able to service a large amount of people.”

The free medical checks are perhaps the most popular of the activities. FLOW Sponsorship Manager Stephen Miller pointed out that optical, dental and general check-ups can be quite costly, especially for parents with more than one child, which is why FLOW has placed special emphasis on these areas at the Skool Aid wellness centre.

“That’s a big thing. We realise that some parents don’t have the money to send kids to do their medicals. That certainly was a big part of the idea – to deliver a large amount of medical checks,” Miller said.

The range of medical checks will be provided by Sure Time Emergency Medical Services, which will also have ambulances on location.

Yesterday, three of five students recommended to FLOW were each presented with a $20,000 grant for books and uniform, as well as school bags at theMonday Exchange.

The three are:

• Yuron Vassel, whose home was burnt down more than two years ago resulting in him staying with a neighbour. Despite the challenges, he did well enough in his Grade Six Achievement Test to be placed at Glenmuir High School;

• Jimmy Ellis, who will be going into grade 4 at Effortville Primary School. He is one of four children for his mother, Sherefer Josephs, a casual seller and single mom; and

• Moesha Denton, who is from Bucks Common in May Pen and who earned a place at Claude McKay High School. Her mother, Marcia Lampart, sells in the May Pen market.